Fox Building To Be Finished Next Summer

Plan Is On Schedule For Community College

Workers have begun replicating historic wooden windows on a former Hartford department store being converted for a community college -- a project once dogged by criticism but now on track.

The design of 93 windows on the facade of the old G. Fox store required approval by the Federal Parks Service because the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The preservation of the character of the Main Street landmark in downtown Hartford is one of the goals of the $55.8 million project.

The conversion of the 11-story building, which will be the new site of Capital Community College, is within budget and on schedule for completion by summer of 2002, architects told trustees of the state's community college system Monday.

``We're in pretty good shape,'' architect Robert F. Pulito told the board. The new building, which includes a five-story atrium, will preserve the original window design and other architectural features, such as the detail on support columns ``so the heart and essence of the old G. Fox building will be maintained,'' Pulito said.

Pulito's firm, the SLAM Collaborative of Glastonbury, has designed buildings for Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard universities, among others.

Another portion of the G. Fox building is being converted by a private developer into shops, restaurants and offices.

The move of Capital Community College from its present location on Woodland Street is one of Gov. John G. Rowland's ``Six Pillars'' of development for downtown Hartford, but it has drawn criticism in some quarters.

Students and faculty expressed doubts last year about the high-rise building, raising questions about parking, the location of a child-care center, and the amount of library and classroom space.

However, project officials and Capital's president, Ira Rubenzahl, said Monday those issues have been resolved.

``I think we're making really good progress,'' Rubenzahl said.

The construction includes the restoration of an auditorium that has not been used for years on the building's 11th floor, said project engineer Scott Jellison of the state Department of Public Works, which is managing the project. The auditorium, for at least the past 20 or 30 years, had been converted to offices, bathrooms and storage space.